THE HOLY GHOST, A SUPREME BOOSTER

Acts 1:8- "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth".
Have you ever been  chased by an angry dog or a robber armed with harmful objects? You would realize your speed was different from those times when you just felt like running at will. The extra speed is courtesy of adrenaline, a hormone secreted in us during emergency situations. It kind of enables us go the extra mile in our response to the situation at hand. It boosts us for tasks seemingly bigger than us.
In the same way we must understand that the Holy Ghost empowers us for tasks that are impossible by our own strength. He is a divine booster. He gives us courage, extra wisdom and insight into challenging situations. He causes the miraculous to happen within and around us. In our to text, we see that the Holy Ghost comes with power. The power is to fulfill the great commission; to go out and be witnesses.
Many people, even supposed Christians today find it difficult to believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. Well, if you can feel the effectiveness of adrenaline even without seeing it physically, then you should know the Holy Spirit is true and empowers us to do greater things than our physical strength can accomplish.

Ikpa Onwuka. 

RUTHLESSLY ESCAPING

I was in a bus to the Redemption Camp in Nigeria, we were to alight at a bus stop called car park C. In the bus with us there was a women carrying a child who did not really know the route we were taking because she was supposed to go further than car park C. She asked the conductor whether we have reached car park C and he laughed. This made her very nervous and all of a sudden she made attempts to jump out of the moving bus as she thought she had been kidnapped. She didn't even consider the child she carried behind her, her only aim was to escape these "kidnappers". We the other commuters had to calm her down that all was well and we were approaching the bus stop. She then calmed down.
What would you do if you discovered you were actually on a vehicle heading for doom? This woman made every attempt to escape until she was convinced that all was well. Many Christians are in a bus of sin, heading for death (Romans 6:23) but yet are so relaxed in it. Even the herd of swine in Gadara refused to tolerate demons, they rather chose to die if there was no way out (Luke 8:26-33). How much more a person made in the image and likeness of God. The bible says in Hebrews 12:4-5: "Ye have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin, and ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, my son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him".
Beloved, Jesus has given us power over sin and death. Let us get out of that bus called sin because it will take whoever remains therein to death. Jesus has life in him (John 3:16).
Choose ye this day which vehicle you're going to board, but as for me and my house, we will board Jesus- the ark of salvation.
Shalom,
Ikpa Onwuka.

PEREZ-UZZA

(1Chronicles 13:9-12)
The word Perez-Uzza means The breach of Uzza. This place was named after the scary incidence of God slaying Uzza because he tried to stabilize the ark of God by putting forth his hand to hold it.
Many questions have sprung from this occurrence. Why did God slay Uzza? Should we just look when things go wrong in God's house? Is it a sin to be proactive? All these questions come if we don't get the big picture of what happened. It gets clearer if we go further to read 1Chronicles 15:11-14. This time they wanted to move the ark of God from the house of Obededom to the City of David. In order to prevent such occurrence of Uzza, they had to sanctify themselves. David mentioned in verse 13 that the reason the Lord made a breach upon them (that is upon Uzza) was be cause they were not sanctified and so they did not seek Him after the due order.
So beloved, we must sanctify ourselves if we would carry God's presence and glory.
Remember you are the light of the world.

Ikpa Onwuka

LESSONS FROM HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER

(2Kings 19:14-20)
King Hezekiah was king of Israel and had a good record of God. He was the king who not only walked in the ways of God, but also destroyed the high places, according to God's command.
Now the king of Assyria sent a threatening message to Hezekiah which prompted him to pray in this manner:
First Hezekiah acknowledged God for who He is. He made it clear to God that beyond reasonable doubt he (Hezekiah) knew that God is all sufficient  and powerful. He started by exhibiting his faith in God (Hebrews 11:6).
Secondly, he then called God's attention to the problem; Sennacherib's threat. Sennachrerib was the king of Assyria. He reminded God that it is a direct attack to His name and He would have to do something. Notice Hezekiah did not bring himself into the issue, he brought the problem to face God, knowing that any problem that faces God is finished.
Thirdly, (vs 17-18), he recognized the strength of the opposition. He did not just jump into conclusion and begin to make irrational statements against the king of Assyria, there was no need for that because he knew his God is able. In Jude 9, we see Michael rebuking the devil without any irrational statement or conclusion, he still recognized his power and antiques. But in verse 10 of Jude, we se some people who speak evil of what they don't even know about. Peter mentions that also in 2Peter 2:11-12. Don't ever be ignorant of the devices of the enemy (2Corinthians 2:11) or else, he'll take advantage of it. Hezekiah knew all Sennacherib was capable of.
Lastly (vs 19) a request was made, a strategic request "Save thou us out of his hand". Hezekiah did not just make a request and stop, he knew it was not all about 'us'. He continued "that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even only thou". Can you see that the purpose of his request was not just to serve himself, but that glory would come to the name of God. Of course God answered Hezekiah's prayer in grand style. The angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. This is the mind blowing result that can be gotten when our request aims at returning glory to God.